Five of 21 school board seats will be uncontested on November’s ballot after the Chicago Board of Elections voted Tuesday to remove another candidate.
District 10A candidate Tameka Walton was removed from the ballot at Tuesday’s meeting. However, she will still challenge incumbent Che “Rhymefest” Smith as a write-in candidate endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.
To date, objection challenges have kicked six candidates off the ballot. Candidates running in Districts 9A and 10A on the South Side, Districts 8A and 8B on the Southwest Side, and District 4B on the North Side have been removed from the ballot since June, leaving the races technically uncontested.
Walton joins five other candidates booted from the ballot following the weekslong, expensive objections process. Objectors, often from an opposing campaign, contest a candidate’s nominating papers. The process typically sees the candidate and the objector hiring attorneys to represent them during hearings and reviews of petition signatures.
The Board of Elections officers have been hearing cases and reviewing hearing officers’ recommendations since June.
Some candidates were able to remain on the ballot despite objections and appeals attempting their removal, including appointed incumbent Norma Rios Sierra, who is running for reelection in District 3A on the Northwest Side against Peter Gonzales. Candidate Brenda Lee Anderson also remains and will face appointed incumbent Anusha Thotakura and Isaiah White for the North Side’s District 6A seat.
Anderson sat in the crowded boardroom Tuesday and watched as her case was deliberated for a second time, recording with a smartphone as lawyers argued for and against her sitting on the ballot. As the board voted to validate her nomination papers, Anderson gave a fist pump behind her phone.
Speaking to reporters after the vote, Anderson shared that the objection process has been “frustrating” as a first-time candidate, adding, “this is exhausting,” especially with her nominating papers being challenged repeatedly.
For her, the money spent on trying to remove her from the ballot would be better put toward addressing issues in the city. While there has been a call for ballot access, the process has run contrary to that idea, she said.
“What I’m asking for is that folks allow me to run this race, and that they’re not wasting resources and money trying to kick me off the ballot, but at the same time screaming ballot access,” Anderson said. “That is progressive dystopia.”
She’s been through worse experiences in her life, but that does not take away from the emotional impact the objections process has had on her, Anderson added. Still, she feels she represents a diverse demographic that the board should reflect, she said.
“I have direct experiences that mirror CPS students,” Anderson said. “I went to charter school. My schools were closed down. My schools were consolidated. I know what it looks like to not be notified that your school is about to close down, and I’ve had to navigate that. I’m a first-generation high school student and I have a whole Ph.D. now. That has not been easy.”
The November election will mark the first time in the city’s history that the 21-member school board will be fully elected by voters. Initially, 51 candidates filed to run, leaving 45 in the race. The elections board will finalize the ballot on Aug. 27.
Kate Armanini contributed to this report.
